At the turn of the century, Henri Gauthier-Villars, a notorious bachelor, marries the young country girl Gabrielle Colette and introduces her to debauched Parisian life. Gabrielle keeps a diary of all her experiences, which Villars, the spendthrift heir to a publishing house, prints as the Claudine series under his pen-name of "Willy". Villars sets up a threesome with Gabrielle and Polaire, one of his mistresses, but the women become lovers and allies. Gabrielle finally becomes fed up with the duplicity of Villars, and publishes her books under her own name "Colette".